Seahawks, Giants both need wins

Teams looking to shake off poor play and keep alive hopes of postseason berth

Associated Press

Published 8:04 pm, Saturday, November 8, 2014

Seattle

Michael Bennett was asked to analyze where the Seattle Seahawks stand, halfway through defense of their first title and already having to play from behind in the NFC West.

Bennett wasn't interested in playing along. But he does believe the Seahawks are getting closer to the form that made them champions a season ago.

"I'm not a (general manager) so I don't assess the team in that kind of way," Bennett said. "I just go out there and do my job. But I would say we're on the up and up."

The Seahawks (5-3) get another chance to show they're rounding into contention on Sunday, hosting the struggling New York Giants (3-5). Because of a brutal upcoming schedule, facing the Giants is essentially a must-win game for the Seahawks. They still have two games remaining against both Arizona and San Francisco, but already trail the Cardinals by two games in the division.

More Information

Giants at Seahawks

When: 4:25 p.m. Sunday

TV/Radio: Fox-23, WFAN 660 AM, WPYX 106.5 FM

"You can never run a race looking at someone else and watching them run their race, trying to do what they do," Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said. "We're going to run our race, and at the end of the day, people are going to have to come in here and deal with us regardless, so it doesn't matter what they do—if we control what we can control, we'll be where we want to be."

In a similar regard, the Giants can't afford dropping any further behind Philadelphia and Dallas in the NFC East if they have aspirations of contending. The Giants have the added challenge of flying across the country to play Seattle after a Monday night home game against the Colts.

"A win can do a lot of things for you and put you back on track," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "Certainly the challenge is there for us this week, but nevertheless we look forward to it."

Injuries have left New York's secondary signing nearly anyone with a pulse.

Prince Amukamara was the latest defensive back to land on injured reserve with a torn biceps suffered against Indianapolis. His replacement Zack Bowman was taken to a hospital on Thursday to be examined for abdominal pain. Even before Amukamara's injury, the Giants are without Walter Thurmond III and Trumaine McBride at cornerback, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has been playing through injuries.

Eli Manning has not thrown an interception in the last four games, a streak of 145 pass attempts. It's the longest string of Manning's career. But in his last two games against Seattle, Manning has thrown eight interceptions.

"They don't have to blitz a lot to get a good pass rush and they rely on their front four to get pressure on the quarterback, and their secondary to mix up coverages," Manning said. "They are a talented defense and they have a lot of good players, and they play well."

Rookie Odell Beckham Jr. is coming off the best game of his rookie season with eight catches for 154 yards against the Colts. While it won't be a constant matchup, he'll now be facing off against Sherman after the two-time All-Pro grabbed his first interception of the season last week.